Support for time burning signals and other pyrotechnical devices



p 23, 3 J. w. EDM'ANDS 1,776,354

SUPPORT FOR TIME BURNING SIGNALS AND OTHER PYROT-ECHNIGRL DEVICES Filed Dec. 19, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 lnveni'or John W. Ed munds AHys.

9 23, 1930- J. w. EDMANDS 1,776,354

SUPPORT 103 TIME BURNING SIGNALS AND OTHER PYROTECHNICAL DEVICES Filed Dec. 19, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Inventor John W. Edmancls byMM {W AHys.

Patented Sept. 23, 1930 "UNITED STATES PATENT oF-ncr.

JOHN W. EDMANDS, OE NEWTON HIGHLANDS, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGW'MENTS, T0 CENTRAL RAILWAY SIGNAL COMPANY, INC., OF NEWTON, MAS- SAOHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS SUPPORT FOR TIME BURNING SIGNALS AND OTHER BYROTECHNIOAL DEVICES Application filed December 19, 1928. Serial No. 327,107.

This invention relates to improvements in supports for time-burning signals and other pyrotechnical devices and the principal object of the invention is to provide means adapted to be quickly and conveniently assembled upon the pyrotechnical device and adapted to hold the same during the burning of said device.

More specifically the object of the invention is to provide a holder for a slow burning pyrotechnical device, such as a railroad signal fusee, which can be supported upon the ground or other supporting base.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which may be conveniently employed to clamp and hold the slow burning pyrotechnical device in a position in which the flame projected from the device will not injure the operator.

Usual signal devices, such as railroad signalling fusees, are provided with-a base having a sharp spike or prong adapted to be thrust into the ground or a tie to support the fusee during the burning thereof. One of the objects of the invention is to provide a holder for a time-burning pyrotechnical device, such as a fusee, which will enable the fusee to be supported upon a concrete road, or other hard base, during the burning thereof. This is particularly useful to prevent accidents to motor vehicles travelling over concrete or macadam roads. Such motor vehi cles as motor busses, trucks, and passenger cars are some times obliged to stop en route for the purpose of making minor repairs or to change a tire and should be safe-guarded against collision while stopped.

The present invention comprises means for supporting a slow burning light, such as a time-burning signal which can be placed upon the road-bed and which will not only warn passing vehicles and thus avoid collision, but which may also be employed to afford suflicient illumination to enable the operator to make necessary repairs, to change tires, etc. By employing a time-burning railroad signal fusee a continuous illumination may be provided which cannot be extinguished by wind, rain, or snow, and which will continue to bumfor a period-of several minutes.

A further object of the invention is to provide a holder for a pyrotechnical device of the character above described which will enable the device to be supported upon the ground, or which may be held in the handi I thereby providing a readily portable signa and light.

A further object of the invention is to provide a holder of the character above described which will support the pyrotechnical device in a positioninclined to the vertical, or inangular relation to the supporting plane of the ase of the holder, so that the lava, or other residue, will not run down upon the tube of the device, thereby avoiding improper burning of the tube.

A further object of the invention is to provide a holder of the character above described of simple construction and which may be collapsed for transportation to occupy a minimum space. I

These and other objects and features of the invention will more fully appear from the following description and the accompanying drawings and will bev particularly pointed out in the claims.

Preferred embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a pyrotechnical device such as a time-burning fusee supported upon a holder embodying the invention with the holder in position to rest upon the ground and support the fusee in angular relation to the ground;

Fig. 2 is a perspective viewillustrating the preferred form of holder illustrated in Fig. 1 in the portable position which is assumed when the holder is carried in the hand of the operator;

Fig. 3 is a detail transverse sectional view on lines 3-3 Fig. 1, viewed downwardly;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of holder illustrating in dotted lines the position of the pyrotechnical device when supported therein;

Fig.5 is a detail longitudinal sectional view of the lower end of a fusee and base therefor with the holder of the type illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 secured thereupon;

Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view of another form of holder illustrating in dotted lines the position of the fusee when supported Fig. 7 is a view of the lower end of a railway signal fusee partially in longitudinal vertical section, an illustrating a modified form of holder and its means of attachment to the uses Fig. 8 is a detail pers ctive view of the construction illustrated in Fi 7 illustratin more clearly the form of t e loop of the ho der which engages the base of the fusee;

and,

Fi 9 is a pers ective view of another form of ho der for a see, or other yrotechnical device, and the manner in whic the fusee is su orted thereby.

e embodiments of the invention are illustrated herein as supporting a slow burning yrotechnical device, such as a railway fusee, but obviously may be adapted to hold other forms of yroteohnical devices to permit the burnin t ereof with safety and to insure proper urning of the yrotechnical composition without improper y burning the containor therefor.

In the use of slow burning time signals, such as fusees, it is desirable that the'fusee be held at an angle to the perpendicular in order that the lava or residue may dro free from the li hted end of the tube or container and not run own along the wall of the tube, thereby causin the wall of the tube to be burned throug and producing an uneven burning of the composition.

The present invention comprises broadly a support for a tubular pyrotechnical device comprising a base having a holder for the device so ositioned as to support the device during t e burning thereof in inclined relation to the vertical or to the supportin plane of the base. All of the emb iments of the invention disclosed herein illustrate such a construction. Preferably the holder is constructed of a stiff resilient wire havin means for engagin the lower end portion 0 the si al fusee an diverging legs extending there om in substantial s etrical angular relationto the axis of the older and the fusee which is su ported thereby, thus producing in effect a su tantially triangular supporting base with the vertical plane of the axis of the holder substantially bisecting the angle between the legs. I By reason of this construction the center of gravity of the holder which is disposed in the vertical plane of the axis of the holder will lie sufliciently'within' the base of the holder during the entire burning operation so that the construction will be stable throughout the period of use.

When not in use the legs may be brought toward each other and-preferably interlocked so that the holder may take up a minimum space. Such a construction is particularly desirable as a number of fusees and one or more holders therefor, when collapsed, may be placed in a relativelysmall box which can be conveniently carried in an automobile or other vehicle. 0 The holder having wire legs of this character may be made in various ways, certain of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawin s. In the preferred construction the wire is cut at its central portion to provide a loop which may be a closed loop or an open loop with the open portion thereof extending either awa from or toward the legs. Desirably the p ane of the 100 is arranged at an angle to the plane of the egs so that an axis extending perpendicularly to the plane of the loop will be inclined to and extend over the lane of the legs which form the supporting ase.

In the preferred construction illustrated in Fig. 1 the holder comprises a wire havin the central ortion thereof bent to rovi e a central 00p 1, of slightly more t an semicircular contour to embrace slightly more than one-half of the circumference of the tube, and outer loops 2 and 3 extending in the opposite direction from that of the central loop. Legs 4: and 5 diverge from the outer loops substantially symmetrically to the vertical plane of the axis ofthe central loop and desirably are bent upwardly at their free ends to provide substantially closed circular loops or eyes 6 and 7 which are adapted to interengage when the legs 4 and 5 are brought together and crossed, thereby providing a convenient means for locking the legs of the holder in a compact position for packaging and storin The pyrotechnical levice, such as a signal fusee 8, is of usual cylindrical form and filled with a slow burning com osition of the desired color. It is provi ed with the usual cylindrical cap 9 extending down aconsiderable distance over the end of the tube and having its upper end 10 covered with a com position adapted when rubbed upon a complementary composition covering the end of the composition of the fusee to ignite the latter as is usual in time burning fusees. A tape 11 extends upwardly over the end of the cap and covers the composition upon the cap and the cap and tape are enclosed in a waterproofed fibrous composition such as paper 12 which extends downwardly below the lower end of the cap and is pasted to the body of the tube.

The lower end of the tubular container for the pyrotechnical composition of time burning signal fusees and'the like is rovided with a plug or base 13, (see Fig. 5 which is provided with a peripheral recess 14 to receive the lower end of the tube 15 containing the pyrotechnical material. The tube usually is made of paper, or other fibrous composition, of such character that it will burn with approximately the same-rapidity as the contents of the tube, thereby producing a maximum amount of light at all times.

In certain embodiments of the present invention the plug or base 13of the fusee is provided with a recess adapted to be engaged by the looped portion of the holder. As il-' lustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, the base or plug 13 is provided near its end with an annular groove 16 of a width corresponding substantially to the diameter of the wire of the holder. When it is desired to support the signal fusee upon a road, such, for exam le, as a concrete or macadam road, the hol er, which is normally stored in a collapsed condition with the legs 4 and 5 crossing each other and the loops 6 and 7 interengaged, is removed from its place of storage and the grooved portion of the base of the signal placed within the central loop 1 and the legs minor repairs to be made to the car.

thereupon permitted to expand to the position illustrated in Fig. 1. The legs of the holder are then placed upon the road, thereby holding the fusee in a position inclined to the supfporting base. The tape is then stripped 0 the end of the cap, the cap removed, and the end of the cap scratched upon the complementary ignitable material upon the end of the burning composition of the fusee. The composition will immediately begin to burn and is of such a character that it cannot be extinguished by wind, rain or snow.

By reason of this construction the time burning signal fusee may be placed upon the road in such a position as to illuminate the exposed side and front or rear of the car so that other vehicles passing will be warned to turn out and avoid collision with the stationary car. The light also is of sufiicient brilliance to enable .tires to be changedTlor e signal is of great value also in case of fog since by reason of the brilliancy of the light approaching vehicles can be warned at a sufiicient distance to avoid collision.

It is sometimes desirable that the fusee or pyrotechnical device he held in the hand. By the present invention this can be readily accomplished and one or two of such signalling devices may be manually held in the holder.

This is accomplished by introducing the grooved end of the fusee 8 into either of the outer loops 2 or 3, or by similarly placing a fusee in each. The fusee or fusees will thus be introduced when the legs are in the separated position illustrated in Fig. 1. The legs are then grasped by the hand and drawn together to the most comfortable position in which the operator can grasp them. The bringing of the legs 4 and 5 together serves to contract the outer loops 2 and 3 so that exposing the composition upon the wire of the -loops" is firmly clamped upon the base within the groove thereof.

The planez of the loops desirabl is in angular relation to the plane of the legs as above described and, therefore, when the legs are held in a substantially horizontal position the fuses will extend upwardly at an angle to the vertical and in a direction away from the hand of the person grasping the holder. By thus holding the fusee in such an inclined position away from the operator any. dan er of burning the operator either by the ame from the burning composition or the lava dripping therefrom is avoided.

When the fusee has been burned out, or

when the repair has been completed, the fusee can be readily released from the holder by moving the legs in the proper direction and the holder can then be folded in its collapsed position above described.

Another embodiment of the invention is illustrated in F ig.4, in which case the central portion of the wire'is bent to provide a plurality of-axially alined loops 17, 18, and 19, with the ends of the wire extended to form legs and 21 diverging from the loop in substantial symmetrical angular relation to the axis of the loop as above described.

In Fig. 6 another embodiment of the invention is shown in which the holder comprises a cylindrical socket 22 having brazed, soldered, or otherwise secured to it a narrow,

loop 23 the legs 24 and 25 of which diverge from the loop in substantially symmetrical angular relation to the axis of the loop which is parallel to the axis of the socket 22 and the pyrotechnical-device which is held therein.

In Figs. 7 and 8 another embodiment of the invention is shown in which the central portion of the wire is bent to form a plain loop 26 adapted to be inserted in a central slot or recess 27 extending into the lower end of a plug) 28 which closes the lower end of the time urning si nal 29.

Still another em odiment of the invention is illustrated in Fig. 9 which comprises a flat plate or base 30 adapted to rest upon the ground or other support and having secured thereto a cylindrical socket 31 which extends upwardly from the base in inclined relation thereto so that the time burning signal 32, or other pyrotechnical device, will be held at the desired inclination to the vertical. In this construction the base 30 desirably is of rectangular form and the axis of the socket 31 and of they pyrotechnical device carried thereby lies substantially in the vertical central longitudinal plane of the base.

It will be understood that the embodiments of the invention particularly disclose-d herein are of an illustrative character and are not restrictive of the scope and meaning of the claims, and that various changes in material, construction and arrangement of parts may be made within the spirit and scopeof the following claims.

Havin thus described the invention, what is claime as new, and desired to be secured by Letters Patent, is: v

1. A support for a tubular pyrotechnical device comprising a still? resilient wire bent centrall to rovide an open loop to engage and hol sai device substantially perpendicular to the plane of the loop and integral 1e s diverging from said loop in substantia y symmetrical angular relation to the axis of said loop and in a plane inclined to the lane of the loop thereby to form a base, and w ereby said device will be held over said base and in upwardly inclined relation thereto.

2. A support for a tubular pyrotechnical device comprising a resilient wire holder having its central portion bent to provide an open outwardly extending loop of normally slightly less diameter than the diameter of the pyrotechnical device to be supported, and inwardly extending open loops upon opposite sides of said central loop and integral legs diverging from the outer loops in an inclined relation to the plane of said 100 s, said outer 100 s and legs co-ogierating w en the free en s of said 1e are to expand sai outer loop to permit said device to be readily introduced into and removed from said loop.

3. A support for a pyrotechnical device comprising a wire base having diver legs and a plurality of oppositely extending oops connecting said legs to form selective holders for said device, said loops being disposed in angular relation to the plane of'said di-- verging legs whereby to hold the device in axial inclination to the supporting plane of the base, one of said loops being constructed and arranged to close in clamping relation to the device upon movement of the legs toward each other, and another of said loops being constructed and arranged to close in clamping relation to the devlce upon movement of the legs away from each other.

4. A support for a pyrotechnical device comprising a stiff resilient wire bent to provide a substantially triangular base having diverging legs and a rearwardly extenda ing holder portion, said portion being arran ed in angular relation to the plane of the egs and operable to engage the lower end of the base of said device whereby to hold said device over and in axial inclinationto the supporting plane of the base.

In testimony whereof, I have signed myname to this specification.

JOHN W. EDMANDS.

orced toward each other, 

